If you dig deep enough you will find that there are lots of free comics out there. Sometimes it is just the first chapter, allowing you to get a feel for the series, while on the rare occasion it is an entire story. In this edition, I look at the cartoons from the magazine The New Yorker.
For those unfamiliar of The New Yorker it is a magazine with content that is generally New York City focused, although it has a wide audience outside New York City. The magazine has variety of content including commentary, reviews, poetry, essays and fiction. Although one aspect of the magazine that is quite popular is the cartoons from an array of cartoonists covering a variety of topics.
As seen throughout this post, the New Yorker cartoons generally follow a one panel structure followed by a caption that when combined together create a joke. The subject matter of the New Yorker Cartoon can vary and it all depends on the cartoonist style of humour and imagination. As can be seen throughout this post, some of the jokes are more intellectual or satirical while others are much more sillier. All of which have the purpose of creating a gag for the reader.
If you have never read a New Yorker cartoon before you might be familiar with The Addams Family who originated from the cartoons published in the magazine. From the creative mind of Charles Addams, The Addams Family is a satirical look at the typical American Family. This grisly family appeared in a total of 150 cartoons from 1938 till Addams death in 1988. The cartoons were generally satirical, but often had a black humour to them as can be seen above. The Addams family has been able to transcend the pages of the New Yorker and has gone on to have televisions shows, movies, video games and plenty of merchandise based on the family.
The New Yorker cartoons have even been the focus of an episode of Seinfeld, “The Cartoon”, in which Elaine decides to write a cartoon when one is published doesn’t make sense. It is latter found in the episode that she had unconsciously plagiarised a Ziggy cartoon. As a tribute to the episode The New Yorker recreated the cartoon as part of their caption contest.
Being based in Australia, the Seinfeld episode was what made me aware of these cartoons and the publication in general. Just like the episode, much can be said that the New Yorker cartoons have acted as a gateway to the magazine allowing for many people to discover the publications brand of content.
If you want to read The New Yorker cartoons you can by picking up the New Yorker (published 47 times a year), read them for free on the New Yorker website or follow them on Tumblr.
Below are a handful that of cartoons that I enjoyed while researching this post.
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